Since its inception in the late 1960s and early 1970s, telemedicine has continued to evolve as an acceptable and effective modality for therapeutic intervention. The initial era of broadcasting or posting non-integrated audio and visual data has given way to digitization and simultaneous transmission of interleaved audio and video data streams delivered at higher speeds over private networks (Bashshur, R., Telemedicine and Health Care, Telemed J E Health 2002; 8: 5-12). This in turn has led to lower cost and even faster transmission implementations of telemedicine utilizing interactive global communication networks such as the Internet.
The present invention utilizes the potential of such high speed, high bandwidth interactive global communications networks for remotely monitoring and modulating programmable medical apparatus, including programmable audiological medical devices such as cochlear implants, in-ear hearing aids, bone conduction hearing aids, implantable hearing aids, auditory feedback speech therapy devices, voice-activated medical apparatus, and the like. In a wide variety of applications, the invention achieves a substantial advance in the art, by markedly enhancing the performance and patient experience of medical apparatus.